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Navigation Acts
The Navigation Acts were laws passed by England to maintain control over colonial trade. The acts made colonists buy English goods and limited trade between the colonies and other countries. -
Writs of Assistance
Writs of Assistance was made when people started smuggling goods to not pay tax. This means that soldiers were allowed to go to anyone's property and search through everything they had. -
Treaty of Paris of 1763
The document that ended the war between the British and French over the Ohio River Valley. This treaty ended French power in North America and expanded British territory and increased debt. -
Proclamation of 1763
The Proclamation of 1763 was meant to keep the natives and colonists from invading each other and fighting. This proclamation made the colonists very angry because the land they weren't allowed to enter the land they fought for, which was to the west of the Apalachian Mountains. -
Sugar Act
The Sugar Act was a lowering of tax on sugar so that more people would buy the products to create more profit. The act didn't work like they wanted it to because it wasn't making as much profit as they hoped, and it created very harsh punishments for people that tried to smuggle sugar. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was an act to tax people on the paper goods that they needed. This was the act that was forced on everyone becuase paper was a necessity, so people became upset. -
Quartering Act
The Quartering Act was an act where it was made a law for everyone to house and take care of a British soldier. This made the colonists upset, but the government happy because they didn't have to pay for the soldiers. -
Stamp Act Congress
The Stamp Act Congress was the first meeting of representatives from some of the colonies. This meeting was meant to plan ways to get rid of British taxation, and took place during many protests against the British. -
Townshend Acts
The Townshend Acts were acts that taxed goods coming to North America while they were on the ship. The government believed that the people wouldn't notice the tax if they did it beforehand. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was a fight between the British Army and the colonial citizens. Citizens were yelling and throwing items when the British opened fire and killed five people. The colonists were very angry and wanted them all to go back to Britain, and the guards insisted that it was an accidental shot that started it all. -
Tea Act
The tea act was an act that reduced the price on tea, but gave the East India Company a monopoly on the tea. This made the colonists very angry, but the British thought that they were being clever. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was an event where colonials threw crates of tea off of a ship into the harbor. The colonists were very proud of their work, but the British were very angry and were quick to punish all of Boston. -
Coercive Acts
The Coercive Acts were made as punishment for the colonists performing the Boston Tea Party. The colonists weren't very happy with these laws, but the British liked them a lot. -
First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress was the meeting of all of the colonies except for Georgia. They were planning the militia and what laws they would like to ban. -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord were battles of the colonist militia and the British army. The colonists were trying to win a battle against the British, so they followed them on their journey. -
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress met after Lexington and Concord. They were planning how to make an army and how to pay them. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
The Battle of Bunker Hill was an attack following Lexington and Concord. It was a battle that the Colonists lost because they didn't have enough ammo to defeat the British. -
Olive Branch Petition
The Olive Branch Petition was a form that the leaders of the Patriots sent to King George the Third to ask for peace or have a war. The king didn't sign this petition and the American Revolution began. -
Common Sense
Common Sense was a pamphlet created by Thomas Paine. It tried to explain to the loyalists why they were wrong with their beliefs, and why they should be an independent nation. -
Declaratory Act
The Declaratory Act was made after the Stamp Act was repealed, and it was meant to declare that the British were the right rulers of the colonies. The colonists then ignored this act, and everyone started arguing who the right ruler was. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was a document created by the Founding Fathers to declare what their new country would be like, and how it would be run. They tried to create this to be fair to everyone, and go against the rules of British power.